This article includes a game-by-game list of the Florida Gators' ten football seasons from 1970 to 1979. During the 1970s, the Gators were coached by Douglas A. "Doug" Dickey (1970–1978) and Charles B. "Charley" Pell (1979–1984). Dickey and Pell compiled an overall record of 58–53–3 (.522) during the decade.

The disappointing season ended on a controversial note. With the Gators leading the Miami Hurricanes 45–8 late in the fourth quarter of the last game of the season, senior quarterback John Reaves was just 14 yards short of the NCAA career record for passing yardage, but Miami had the ball and seemed destined to run out the clock. At the urging of Florida defensive captain Harvin Clark, Dickey agreed to permit the Gators defense to allow the Hurricanes to score, thus returning the ball to the Gators offense and giving Reaves a chance to break the record. Dubbed the "Florida Flop" or "Gator Flop," the move worked. When Miami snapped the ball from the Florida 8 year line, the Gators instantly flopped to the turf, allowing Miami quarterback John Hornibrook to walk uncontested into the endzone. Florida's offense got one more possession, and Reeves promptly broke the record with a pass to favorite target Carlos Alvarez. After the game, many Gator players celebrated by jumping into the pool at the Orange Bowl's east end zone used by the Miami Dolphins' live mascot, Flipper.

Miami coach Fran Curci was so angered by the turn of events that he refused to shake Dickey's hand. In a post-game interview, he called the actions "bush league" and declared that "what Doug Dickey did shows absolutely no class."[2][3][4]

The Tangerine Bowl was moved up the Turnpike from Orlando to Gainesville as the then 17,000-seat Citrus Bowl was too small to accommodate the Florida crowd. The fans were greeted by a record cold snap, with gametime temperatures at 25 degrees Fahrenheit (-4 degrees Celsius); the cold weather benefited the visiting Miami (Ohio) team which won 16-7.

The 1979 college football season was Charley Pell's first of six as the new head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Pell arrived in Gainesville with a new plan for building the Gators football program—new offensive and defensive schemes, new assistant coaches, a new attitude and new boosters fund-raising model to support the program and improve the stadium and training facilities. Pell's plan would produce many on-the-field victories over the next five years, but his first campaign as the Gators coach produced the most losses in any single season in Gators football history, ending with a winless 0–10–1 overall record and a 0–6 record in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The team, which was plagued by injuries, placed dead last among ten SEC teams.[1] This was the last time until 2013 that Florida fielded a team with a losing record.

The 1979 Florida team had 4 starting quarterbacks: Tim Groves, Tyrone Young, Johnell Brown and Larry Ochab, and John Brantley also played at quarterback, though he did not start. Brantley was supposed to be the starting quarterback, but he was injured in the preseason.

The next year, in 1980, the Florida Gators made a remarkable turnaround. They won the first three games of that season before a loss to Louisiana State crushed Florida's hopes of being undefeated, but they ended the regular season with 7 wins and 4 losses, and in the Tangerine bowl they defeated Maryland 35-20 to improve to 8-4. At the time, this Florida season was an NCAA record turnaround, and this was the first team to make a bowl game after being winless the previous season.